* Read it here.

*For a similar view from a Salt Lake City perspective click here.

*MLS has started a blog focused (for now) on MLS Cup here.

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Read it here.

College soccer tournament games announced Monday:
* USC and UCLA women's details here.

*CSUDH women's and men's details here

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Read it here.

And don't forget to take the Goalkeeper of the Year poll.

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Read it here.

Oh, and the Becks to AC Milan deal is done, say the Italian club.

BTW, the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team predictably lost 2-1 to a technically (and creatively) superior Spain Monday in Ghana at the World Cup for that age category.

San Pedro's Carlos Martinez was an unused sub; Fontana's Victor Chavez played the second half.

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Read the column here.

There were a couple of Aguirre quotes left over that didn't get into the column for space reasons.

The first concerns the infamous incident against Panama in the Gold Cup where Aguirre actually enters the field of play in an effort to influence the game.

The incident is here if you haven't seen it:

And here's Aguirre's rationale for his actions:

"When I lifted up my foot it was just an impulse.

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Read the column here.

Also, the U.S. will play in Demark Nov. 18, U.S. Soccer announced today. Full story.

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Read the column here.

(Sadly the wit and wisdom of Brian Clough - or at least my attempted tribute to it in the last line of that column is apparently lost on the copy editors here; it should read "the top one," singular, not plural).

Check out the trailer.

I had the pleasure of speaking recently with actor Michael Sheen about the film and his role as Brian Clough.

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The lack of form by midfielder Sacha Kljestan has been one of the talking points of the season for Chivas USA. I took a look at the issue in today's column.

I had a few quotes left over that didn't get in the column for space reasons.

Here's Preki on what the club is doing to support him:

"We're doing as a staff and the guys in the locker room whatever it takes to get him where he needs to be.

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Read the column here.

(BTW, the column will appear in the print edition of the (Torrance/South Bay) Daily Breeze Wednesday; it's on the front page of the Daily News sports section today for the two of you who like to keep the print edition as a souvenir).

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In 2005, Michael Shields was convicted by a Bulgarian court for the attempted murder of a barman after Liverpool's Champions League victory in Istanbul. Between a jail in Bulgaria and Thorn Cross prison in Chesire, England, Shields, now 22, has spent the last four years behind bars. But, today, his 15 year sentance has been lifted.

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In observance of Labor Day.

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i have (temporarily?) stopped posting on my blog and have been posting regular updates on my Twitter account - @RedStarsCEO. i have also begun writing a weekly column on the global soccer blog "Pitch Invasion". The column is on the business of soccer in the United States. i hope you've enjoyed the posts here (i'll keep the posts here for archive purposes) and will continue to follow me on Twitter and Pitch Invasion. Click to continue reading...

Editor's Note: Chicago Red Stars President and CEO Peter Wilt returns for his third weekly column on Pitch Invasion, pulling no punches as he grades the first season of the league his own team plays in.

Sunday's Women's Professional Soccer All-Star victory over Swedish powerhouse Umea ended WPS' first season and that makes this a good time to reflect on the inaugural year and analyze WPS' progress.

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Did you know that for the first time ever on American television the English Premier League, the most popular soccer league (in terms of ratings) in this country, can now be seen almost weekly in hi def?

Did you know that coverage of the UEFA Champions League has taken a quantum step forward from announcers calling games in some distant studio rather than being there live, that here is no longer an extremely limited selection of games on TV and that you'll never have to hear the over-used "bulge in the ol' onion bag" phrase ever again?

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Hindsight is a wonderful thing. You work long and hard your weekly column and then some smartarse blogger comes along and takes the piss.But with apologies to Gary Mackay his Edinburgh Evening News ('Yesterday's News Tomorrow') column tonight was unfortunate:Two of the key players who can really make that formation work in Hearts' favour are new captain Michael Stewart and his vice-captain Marius Click to continue reading...

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. You work long and hard your weekly column and then some smartarse blogger comes along and takes the piss.But with apologies to Gary Mackay his Edinburgh Evening News ('Yesterday's News Tomorrow') column tonight was unfortunate:Two of the key players who can really make that formation work in Hearts' favour are new captain Michael Stewart and his vice-captain Marius Click to continue reading...

Just past the halfway mark of the MLS season and exactly two weeks shy of Bruce Arena's one-year anniversary of his official first day on the job with the Galaxy seemed an appropriate time to evaluate the club's progress under his leadership so far.

Read the column here.

Let me know what you think in the comments section.

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Taking a break for a few days.

But since I'm sitting in an Old Town Pasadena Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf right now, it's appropriate to point out that the Galaxy has an MLS All-Star game viewing party scheduled nearby from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday at Redwhite + Bluezz, 70 S. Raymond Ave.

I'll return before the Barcelona game at the Rose Bowl.

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Admittedly, a rather light subject, but since Twitter is all the rage right now it seemed silly to ignore it. Hence, today's column.

Here's a list of selected soccer tweeters. It's not mean to be definitive, but by all means add folks who you follow (or yourself) in the comments section below:

Galaxy & MLS:

*Striker Edson Buddle: EdsonBuddle

*Forward Bryan Jordan: BJ6

*Radio play by play voice Joe Tutino: joetutino

*Fan group Angel City Brigade: ACBrigade

*Don Garber: thesoccerdon

*Jimmy Conrad: JimmyConrad

Chivas USA (past and present)

*Sacha Kljestan: SachaKljestan

*Brad Guzan: bguzan

Sol & WPS

*Midfielder Aly Wagner: alywagner

*GM Charlie Naimo: LASolGM

*WPS Commish Tonya Antonucci: wpscommissioner

*Sol: LosAngelesSol

*Sol Midfielder Manya Makoski: Makoski22

U.

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A look at Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, Chivas USA's Zach Thornton and the Sol's Karina LeBlanc.

Read the column here.

BTW, the Sol can wrap up the WPS regular season title with a win Wednesday over St. Louis in their final regular season home game at noon at Home Depot Center.

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So just who is playing in the July 4 South American all-stars verses a Rest of the World team at the exhibition game?

Even the game organizers are still trying to figure that one out it appears.

And it's not just Blanco who is either not coming or remains a question mark. For instance, Brazilian great Roberto Carlos is still listed as participating on the Coliseum Web site as I write this.

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Hollywood Hitmen. Coldplay. Ballack. SuperLiga. Fireworks. Canada. Messi. NBA.

A FourFourTwo magazine spineline stumper? No, today's column.

BTW, more info on the July 4 game at the Coliseum is here.

And here's the official SuperLiga Web site.

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Back to contributing a weekly column at MLS Daily. I skipped last week with the gracious understanding of TJ, but have triumphantly returned with a column on MLS and the CONCACAF Champions...

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As an English-born, naturalized Canadian citizen who lives in the U.S., nations don't mean that much to me.

Except when it comes to soccer.

Because in soccer different nationalities, cultures and races serve to remind me not how different people are, but how much many share an obsessive interest regardless of where they are from in a ball rolling around a pitch chased by 22 sweaty people.

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(In the spirit of continuing to bring SBI readers a diverse range of soccer news, we will now be offering The Canadian Soccer Corner, a weekly column on matters pertaining to Canadian soccer. Former SBI correspondent Duane Rollins, he of the excellent site The 24th Minute, is back in the SBI fold and will be providing us with a weekly look at the world of Canadian Soccer.

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(In the spirit of continuing to bring SBI readers a diverse range of soccer news, we will now be offering The Canadian Soccer Corner, a weekly column on matters pertaining to Canadian soccer. Former SBI correspondent Duane Rollins, he of the excellent site The 24th Minute, is back in the SBI fold and will be providing us with a weekly look at the world of Canadian Soccer.

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Well, I'm still trying to figure this team out.

Frankly, whether we'll know much more after this weekend - the Galaxy play on the road against a terrible Dallas team - as the season reaches its one-third mark is unclear, too.

What do you folks think? Is this team as bad as many suspect?

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Ajax Icon and former technical advisor Piet Keizer slams the club in his weekly column. He refuses to call Ajax general manager Van den Boog by his name, but calls him Van den Boboog ( a word play on the term "bobo" which basically means "ignorant board member of a football Click to continue reading...

I'm on vacation.

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I was reading Tim Vickery's most recent weekly column on South American football, and found the following question/answer exchange: Q) There are various rumours around the internet that clubs from Major League Soccer in America will be the next league outside of Conmebol (the South American Federation) to be granted invites to the Copa Libertadores in the near future. Click to continue reading...

In the aftermath of John Carver's exit as coach of Toronto FC, he mentioned that Major League Soccer ordered him to be on the sidelines rather than coaching from a luxury box. MLS commissioner Don Garber responded directly to that in his weekly column: "You should know that MLS did not request or require him to coach from the sideline," Garber wrote. Click to continue reading...

I'm preparing for my first two-week vacation in three years, so there's no column today.

I'll return next Tuesday with a review of the forthcoming Spanish-language futbol movie "Rudo Y Cursi," which opens May 8 in L.A., and a look at soccer movies in general.

A couple of items of note to pass along:

*CONCACAF this morning announced it was postponing indefinitely the region's Beach Soccer Championship scheduled to begin Wednesday in Puerto Vallarta due to the spread of swine flu in Mexico.

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Read it here.

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It's not often I get excited about an MLS game this early in the season, but Saturday's game between Chivas USA and the Seattle Sounders in Carson has the makings of a compelling game even if both coaches will tell you their respective teams are not yet firing on all cylinders and can get better.

Sounders Coach Sigi Schmid and Chivas USA utility man Carey Talley took the time to provide an excellent analysis of the game and I'll share more of what they had to say on the weekend.

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Kelly Smith is apparently writing a weekly column for The Daily Mail about her WPS soccer experiences. Here's an excerpt from last week's piece:

There's so much to learn because everything is so new and we don't really know each other's playing styles or strengths and weaknesses at the moment.

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